The WSJ has the story:
At $25 Each, Cigarettes Are Turning Gaza Aid Trucks Into Targets By Stephen Kalin, Dov Lieber and Fatima AbdulKarim
"A group of Palestinian men approached a United Nations warehouse in central Gaza last week and demanded access to aid stored inside. The gang wasn’t interested in food, fuel or medicine. It wanted something it considered far more valuable: contraband cigarettes hidden in the humanitarian cargo.
"The incident, described by a U.N. official, is emblematic of a significant new impediment to aid deliveries in the enclave. Rampant cigarette smuggling—fueled by high prices for tobacco—has become the latest manifestation of a breakdown in law and order that is slowing the delivery of lifesaving assistance.
"Aid trucks and storage depots have become targets for Palestinian smugglers seeking to retrieve illicit smokes stashed inside shipments by their accomplices, say U.N. and Israeli officials. Other local criminals are also attacking vehicles they suspect have cigarettes hidden somewhere on board, they say.
"Cigarettes sell for as much as $25 apiece in isolated Gaza, so getting hold of even a pack can be enormously profitable.
...
"A second U.N. official said that on Tuesday, three armed men arrived at another U.N. warehouse in central Gaza, demanding to search through the aid. They found the cigarettes they were looking for in a box of aid. The Wall Street Journal viewed a picture of the box with a U.N. logo ripped open, exposing cartons of Karelia cigarettes inside.
“Cigarettes have become like the new gold in Gaza,” the official said."
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